Reason #3 Why I Am Doing This: My Overall Health

I eat well for my health. Now, this isn't why I'm not having a bite of sugar or a taste of something with gluten in it this year. You can be healthy and still indulge in the occasional dessert or snack. I've documented multiple times why I can't have a bite, but clearly my body doesn't need sugar or gluten to be healthy, so helping my long-term health is just another perk.

One thing that sugar really impacts is inflammation. And in listening to a lot of my courses, it seems that inflammation is revered by many as the main cause in a lot of life-threatening illnesses. As I understand it, any disease can be traced back to the inflammation of cells. We're talking from the common cold to cancer. And sugar feeds inflammation so cutting it out can only help me in the long run. 

Gluten is not easily digested by anyone, not just those with celiac disease. A lot of health experts feel that the center of all of our health is the gut. If we don't have a healthy digestive system, then we're going to run into trouble later. And it's just not colon cancer. It's of vital importance to your immune system and your brain function. And when there are problems, it can cause autoimmune disorders, inflammation (there's that inflammation again), and an overgrowth of yeast or parasites, just to name a few. So by eliminating something that I know my body has a tough time digesting, well that can only be good for me in the long run as well.

There are a lot of other things I need to be doing for my long-tern health: exercise and releasing stress come to mind. While I do not do a great job with those things, at least I know my diet is working for me.

Tough weekend and a tough week ahead. Both kids have colds and I am still pretty tired from the sleepless nights last week. I definitely turned to food last night as I heard my daughter crying (she has a stuffy nose and just couldn't get comfortable, poor thing). Right now I'm accepting that I am using food as a coping mechanism. A little too much going on to deal with that at the moment, so I'll be happy that at least I'm not turning to sugar.